The Visible Man: Yes, Its That Good

     I had never really been recommended a book. It was always either a book forced upon me for a book club, or a class; or I just didn’t read at all.  

At the start of my junior year my English teacher immediately got into the thing that most students dread; the quarterly reading assignment.  It was a very general assignment, any non-fiction book of your choice.  I was screwed. Not only do I hate reading, I have never had an interest in non-fiction.

Of course the teacher had a list of recommended book for all his students and midway through class he mentioned one of his favorite books with a background in human psychology. This is where he got my attention.  I respect this teacher and trust his opinion so jumped right in, feeling a weird urge to immerse myself in some good reading.  I found myself enjoying one of the best books I have ever read. The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman was a realistic story about the lives of people while they are alone; their behavior and weird tenancies. It shows who we really are without all the backgrounds they we put ourselves in.

How do you tell a story of a physiological genius and what he sees in his bizarre day-to-day life? What Chuck Klosterman did to effectively hold my attention was to tell the story through a female narrator by the name of Victoria. The main focus of the book ‘Y____” finds himself needing a therapist, but not for ordinary reasons. He instead relays all his interesting discoveries on to his therapist of choice. Victoria, being his therapist, in turn writes about the stories relayed to her by the “Y____.”  She includes notes about her thoughts on her patient and it gives more perspective on how a reader would handle the situation. Vicki expresses her concerns, excitement and her anxiety about her patient who tells so much, but yet stays so mysterious. 

We take our solitary time for granted. If we are lucky we spend most or out time with people we enjoying being around. But this can be both a blessing and a curse.  Time alone is precious.  It tells us about who we really are.  No matter how such we try to deny the fact, we hide under a social blanket when in front of social groups. Because of the way we are raised, and with the help of character, we unintentionally change our behavior in certain situations.  It is peculiar to think about who you really are when you walk around your room quietly having a conversation with yourself. Talking to your own thoughts doesn't make you smarter.  It does however build who you are as a person. This is how Klosterman started to get me thinking about what I did when I am in the company of no one but my self.  Not only does my time alone puzzle me, but what about other people in solitude?  How do they alter themselves when in groups?  Am I worse than they are when it comes to putting on a fake act when interacting with others?  A book that gets a reader thinking, even when they aren’t reading the book is a book worth reading. 

Ultimately, this book includes everything a thirsty reader could want. It holds the characteristics of a suspenseful mystery novel. The author writes in the form of short stories, and makes the reader understand that what you are reading is not in sequence. He even ties in some violence when necessary. Everything he writes he articulates in such close attention to detail. I hate to feel like a book pusher, but you this is a gateway to the other amazing works of Chuck Klosterman.

Marsupial Sue Kangaroo Do

Though it might be hard, remember the days when you didn’t know how to read the pages of a book. Instead you picked out a story for your Mom of Dad to read to you. If you were lucky you might even get your babysitter to read it to you. Eventually they would get sick of the book because its your number one request every night. This is exactly how John Lithgow’s, Marsupial Sue got me. The appeal I had to this book still doesn’t make sense. My parents on the other hand, I know why they still continued to read it to me. Sure the illustrations were wonderful, and the catchy song that Lithgow wrote to go along with the book helped keep my attention. But the whole story taught a great life lesson like all children's books do. Its a beautiful thing when a story can grab the attention of all ages.

Marsupial Sue follows a day in the life of a kangaroo named Sue. Sue is an outsider. She feels like that one white kid in a school in central Detroit. Except, well Sue looks just like everyone else. The whole jumping around and eating grass just isn’t her forte. This is where the story tried to relate to any child that fells put out of place. Sue then takes you on an adventure where she meets new types of people. Sure it was fun, but the story eventually ends right where she started. The moral of this short story is you are happiest with those who love you. How touching.
Books like this are meant to tap into you pathos. As you are reading this to your child, you can only hope they are getting something out of it besides looking at the interesting illustrations page after page. But after all of this, the reason this book has stuck into my childhood memories is because the author, John Lithgow helped you sing along from begging to end. The fact that he could song write and story write makes the story that much more memorable. Going into my sixties I will still remember every lyric to that book, and most defiantly be reading it to my children. Simply because, Marsupial Sue can relate to anyone who reads her story.